On Halloween: How To Face Down Your Writing Fears

Vampires?  Witches?  Ghouls? Politicians? Yes, they're Halloween scary (maybe), but they've got nothing on our spookiest writer moments.  Right?  

What scares you most as a writer? How to fix the scary scaries of the writer’s life

Here are the three aspects of the writing life that can send us screeching and cowering under our bed covers.  I'm also including some suggested fixes. 

1.  How to Overcome Writers Block (Eeek! The Blank Screen!)

You wake up with this idea that's so clever that you skip breakfast and grab a quick coffee on your way to your writing desk. Then you type furiously while visions of that Pulitzer dance in your head. You stop. You re-read.  You want to puke.  You delete it all and now you're plain stumped for what--if anything--to write. 

Or you’re under a big, hairy deadline, but then, 12 hours before submission time,  your brain circuits all fizzle and blow. Now you can't speak, let alone write. Oh. Hell.

How to fix writers block:  Get outside and take a walk or a run. Don't worry. The writer's pity party will still be in full swing when you return.  When you get back, pick up your hand-writing journal to tease out what’s stalling you in this project. Or, if you’re not under deadline, take a break from this freakish project to work on a different one—preferably in a different genre.   

 2.       What to Do With That Rejection Letter

 You drafted, re-drafted, edited, polished (and polished). Then, you submitted that short story or essay to that well researched and apparently perfect market.  You followed their submission guidelines. Your piece is within the required word count.    And now, here in your email in-box is one of those, “This-didn’t-work-for-us” notes.

How to recover from writers rejection: First, exorcise (as in, “cast out thy demons”) all self-blame or -flagellation. If you truly worked hard on your submitted piece, then remember that all writing and reading is subjective. I mean, how many New York Times bestsellers have you read that you honestly, truly loved (in my case, not many)?  Also: This rejection may have little or nothing to do with the quality of this piece. It’s certainly not an indictment of you as a writer. Or as a person. If the editor was kind enough to offer suggestions, use them to create a better draft.

The best cure for writer’s rejection? Review your piece, fix any boo-boos and, within 24 hours, submit it to a new and more selective market.  

3.  When Are You Too Old to Write That Book or Essay or Memoir?   

Never.

Next scary question, please?

No, seriously.  Today’s workplaces demand more and more of us, and our 24/7, hyper-connected lifestyle doesn't help. In or beyond the workplace, it seems like there’s always someone who needs you. You’re facing down a milestone birthday and here's that inner voice telling you that  life has whizzed by, and so has your dream of being a writer. 

How to combat your own writer’s ageism: First, you deserve to write. And taking time out to write does not mean that you are reneging on your work or family responsibilities or caregiving. Instead, writing means taking care of your own wellness to make you a better employee, a better parent, a better caregiver. Look at your entire week. Find some spots in there for quick, incidental writing opportunities.  Insert those days and times into your appointment calendar. Early mornings?  Lunch hours? Café on the way home from work?  Turn off the T.V. at night. If it really matters to you, make a plan and start tomorrow.   

Enjoyed this post? You may also enjoy:

Why You Deserve to Write

What You Need to Get Started as a Writer

How to Write During Anxious Times

What to Write When You Just Can't Write

Few of us live in a single-occupancy, write-all-day bubble. Most of us balance writing with a day job, a household, a host of deadlines. Many of us balance writing with a job and family responsibilities and volunteer work.  

Add to this that, at least here in New England, there are winter days when it's hard to get out of our own way--let alone get creative.  

Whether we admit it or not, there are times when we are just sad, upset, worried or angry or sick.   Writing? Sorry.  On those blah days, it's an achievement to get out of bed and find two matching socks. 

Hands up those of us who haven't had a spate of creative dry spells? I have. Unemployment, family illness, bereavement or my own melancholia--these big life issues can eclipse every creative thought in our heads or our hearts. 

In real time, any of these seems like an all-encompassing and never-ending state of being. It can feel like we will never be well or employed or caught up with work or happy or creative again.

To all you Eyores (as in Winnie The Pooh) out there (including yours truly):  This last concept isn't true.

The sun does shine. The words do return.  

Sometimes, all it takes are a few moments of mindfulness, mixed with a dash of self-trust and self-care, leavened by some self-deprecating humor.  

What to Write When You Can't Write

Meanwhile, even while we're in the throes of whatever it is that ails us, we can write. Maybe not a full essay or chapter or story.  Maybe not every day. But there are ways to keep at it.   

Here are some strategies that worked for me: 

Buy Yourself a Miniature Notebook  

After my mother died, I believed that I could or would never write again.  

I was wrong.

But during those dark days, I did keep a tiny, 3" x 2" spiral notebook by my computer monitor. You know the ones. They sell them in drug and dollar stores by the pack.  I filled one of those tiny pages every day.  A week or two in, I began to actually look forward to that mini-write.

Most days, the writing was terse and strange, and I wouldn't even attempt to classify it by genre.  But it helped.

Write a Numbered List

A poet friend recently gave me this tip:  Open up a clean page and set yourself the task of writing eight random things on that page. 

It doesn't matter what you write.

You just have to get to Number Eight.   For me, this numbered-list writing forces me to complete something. It has also yielded some very promising ideas for new essays--two of which I've already had published. 

Switch the Medium: Cocktail Napkins, Anyone?   

If you usually hand-write your first drafts, remember that there are many online journals out there. I recommend Penzu.  As well as being highly secure, Penzu has pages that mimic a lined notebook and it allows you to clip digital photos to your piece.  Other medium-switching ideas: Write short, small pieces on your phone.  Or get yourself a pen and some white cocktail napkins. 

Edit an Old Piece

Remember those bright, productive days when you were up and at it and meeting your word count?  Look through your document folders.  Now might be the time to edit those drafts.  Writing? Who said anything about writing? You're just sprucing things up, dotting a few i's and crossing a few t's.   

Don't write. Meditate. Walk. Look to the sky

There are few things that a walk outside cannot make better.  Wordsworth did it. So did Thoreau. And Mary Oliver.   I love this interview with  Oliver where she speaks about being out in nature and "listening to the world"--about walking with a notebook and just waiting for what will come. 

Dust Off Your Personal Journal

That's the thing about journaling, isn't it? Your daily entry doesn't have to be a neat narrative or a bestseller in the making.  It can just be some lists. Or doodles. Or curse words.  Journaling isn't just a way to keep writing. It's also a research-proven route to physical and mental wellness. 

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Stuck with your writing? Want to write for daily health and wellness? Check out my writing workshops.

When The Writing Life Turns Scary (Plus Some Fixes)

Vampires?  Witches?  Ghouls? Yes, they're Halloween scary (maybe), but they've got nothing on our spookiest writer moments.    

What scares you as a writer?

Here are the three aspects of the writing life that can send us screeching and cowering under our bed covers.  I'm also including some suggested fixes. 

1.  Eeeek! The Blank Screen, aka, Writers Block

You wake up with this idea that's so clever that you skip breakfast and grab a quick coffee on your way to your writing desk. Then you type furiously while visions of that Pulitzer dance in your head. You stop. You re-read.  You want to puke.  You delete it all and now you're plain stumped for what--if anything--to write. 

Or you’re under a big, hairy deadline, but then, 12 hours before submission time,  your brain circuits all fizzle and blow. Now you can't speak, let alone write. Oh. Hell.

Fixes:  Get outside and take a walk or a run. Don't worry. The writer's pity party will still be in full swing when you return.  When you get back, pick up your hand-writing journal to tease out what’s stalling you in this project. Or, if you’re not under deadline, take a break from this freakish project to work on a different one—preferably in a different genre.   

 2.       Bwaaa! Haa! Haaa! The Rejection Letter

 You drafted, re-drafted, edited, polished (and polished). Then, you submitted that short story or essay to that well researched and apparently perfect market.  You followed their submission guidelines. Your piece is within the required word count.    And now, here in your email in-box is one of those, “This-didn’t-work-for-us” notes. Or worse, there's a confusing or snarky missive that reveals that your work never got read in the first place. 

Fixes: First, exorcise (as in, “cast out thy demons”) all self-blame or -flagellation. If you truly worked hard on your submitted piece, then remember that all writing and reading is subjective. I mean, how many New York Times bestsellers have you read that you honestly, truly loved (in my case, not many)?  This rejection may have little or nothing to do with the quality of this piece. It certainly is not an indictment of you as a writer. If the editor was kind enough to offer suggestions, use them. The best cure for writer’s rejection? Review your piece, fix any boo-boos and, within 24 hours, submit it to a new market.  

3.    Help! "I’m About To Turn (insert milestone birthday), And Now It's Too Late!" Today’s workplaces demand more and more of us, and our 24/7, hyper-connected lifestyle doesn't help. In or beyond the workplace, it seems like there’s always someone who needs you. You’re facing down a milestone birthday and here's that inner voice telling you that  life has whizzed by, and so has your dream of being a writer. 

 Fixes:  Switch your own way of thinking.   Taking time out to write does not mean that you are reneging on your work or family responsibilities. Writing means taking care of your own wellness to make you a better employee, a better parent, a better caregiver. Look at your entire week. Find some spots in there for quick, incidental writing opportunities.  Insert those days and times into your appointment calendar. Early mornings?  Lunch hours? Café on the way home from work?  Turn off the T.V. at night. If it really matters to you, make a plan and start tomorrow.   

What are the scariest parts of writing for you? Write them in the comments below.